Anyone here played War Thunder?

[Aeshi]

Was considering giving it a try, was wondering if anyone here could vouch for it?

I've always been fond of games like World of Tanks & Planetside 2, and this looks like something along the same lines but it has PvE too, which sounds like a match made in heaven for me.

 

[Supernova1138]

It's mostly a PVP game, there are single player missions and dynamic campaigns you can play in a PVE environment, but none of those aid in researching new aircraft or upgrading the planes you are flying.

The game can be fun, but it is probably best that you stick to the lower tiers, because once you get into the higher tiers the game develops a lot of problems, mostly in mission design and balancing. For high tier aircraft, you're going to see a lot of very short games, eg. 5 minute length approximately due to the bomber rushing metagame that has developed at those tiers. It's generally not possible to stop a team that is spamming bombers from winning a match by bombing out your airfield in five minutes or less (and this is after a rules change to try to address this issue, it used to be 2 minutes or less), hence everyone does it to speed up the grind to jet aircraft. For ground forces, there are lot of issues with spawn camping, and people just sitting at the spawn sniping enemies rather than trying to capture the objectives.

The XP requirements for vehicle upgrades, which are needed to make your vehicles competitive also get prohibitively high for free players once you get to the late war and post war vehicles, practically requiring either a premium account or spending real money to outright buy the upgrades in order to get them at a reasonable pace.

Finally, there are balancing issues between vehicles, particularly in higher tiers thanks to the developer's insistence on using player statistics to determine vehicle tiering. The problem with that is it leads to a lot of undertiered American aircraft, because everyone tries to turnfight in them, which is generally not their strength. Consequently a lot of Axis vehicles are badly overtiered, in the case of the Japanese, it's due to their excellent turnfighting capabilities, and getting lots of kills on people stupid enough to turnfight a Zero. In the case of the Germans, it's due to overwhelming firepower on their late war bomber killer fighters that can do well by simply engaging enemy fighters in a head on engagement, but are otherwise not competitive against similarly tiered Allied planes.

 

[GloatingSwine]

War Thunder is basically World of Tanks by more different Russians..

Also, even more Russian Bias (flight models of Russian planes are completely different, made by different teams who didn't talk to the team who did the flight models for any of the other nations because they weren't allowed to as they'd seen documents that are still classified, and handle damage way differently).

 

[NuclearKangaroo]

War Thunder is basically World of Tanks by more different Russians..

Also, even more Russian Bias (flight models of Russian planes are completely different, made by different teams who didn't talk to the team who did the flight models for any of the other nations because they weren't allowed to as they'd seen documents that are still classified, and handle damage way differently).

are you serious? that shit is still classified? why are the russians worried the US might attack them with an army of outdated propeller airplanes?


on topic: i played once, didnt really enjoy it that much, definitively not a game for everyone

 

[Aeshi]

Eh, sounds like I'll pass then, I was more interested in the ground-combat bit anyway, and from the sound of it that isn't fully (if at all) implemented yet.

 

[The Madman]

What's with all the negativity guys? I play War Thunder pretty regularly and y'know what, I think it's a blast. A free blast to boot, according to steam I've put 73 hours into the game and have yet to have spent a penny on it while still enjoying myself. It's gotten to the point I actually feel kinda guilty about having not spent money on the game but I just keep thinking 'maybe next steam sale if some of its stuff is on sale I'll grab it' but because I'm both ridiculously cheap as well as forgetful that hasn't happened yet.

In any case it's a fun free flight sim with a massive library of world war 2 aircraft of all sorts that strikes a nice balance between realism and fun. For if you're in the mood it's got a hardcore sim option and for quick 10 minute skirmishes there's an arcade mode as well, there's even an in-between realism/arcade mode which is where I tend to spend the majority of my time. All fun.

Gorgeous game as well, one of the best looking games I've played and certainly the best looking flight sim.

Spoiler: Here I am shooting down a light bomber

Plus again, it's free. Why the hell not give it a try?

 

[Clowndoe]

WarThunder is fine, but it's baby's first flight sim compared to Il-2 1946. An oldie but it still looks and runs great. Nothing beats the feeling of landing a battered Il-2 with a leaking radiator and cut elevator and aileron controls. I still had my rudder and my throttle, and I had enough intimate time with it that I could have done it a hundred times over too.

 

[VaughanyT]

Important: If your planning to get the PC version, go right ahead. It's well made and quite engaging in way most Free to Play games are. However, if it's the console port, don't go anywhere near it. I tried it for the PS4, could not stand it.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well if you aren't too deep into the meta game then you can have quite the time, especially on the flight combat end because that part is as good as they will get it.
But air combat wasn't quite my thing so I was waiting for the tank stuff which is only now coming into play, and they do have good new ideas (especially love the gigantic maps) but they are still lacking in some basic stuff that will bring it on par with WoT.

 

[Neverhoodian]

War Thunder is basically World of Tanks by more different Russians..

Also, even more Russian Bias (flight models of Russian planes are completely different, made by different teams who didn't talk to the team who did the flight models for any of the other nations because they weren't allowed to as they'd seen documents that are still classified, and handle damage way differently).

are you serious? that shit is still classified? why are the russians worried the US might attack them with an army of outdated propeller airplanes?


on topic: i played once, didnt really enjoy it that much, definitively not a game for everyone

If I was to hazard a guess, it may be an issue of pride and censorship. There's a prevailing mindset in Russia, particularly amongst older generations, that tends to downplay the horrific losses and heavy-handed tactics of the "Great Patriotic War" (or worse, dismiss it as Western propoganda). Just look at the backlash for games like Company of Heroes 2 when they dared to portray the cruelty and callous disregard for human life that typified Stalin's rule.

Back on-topic, I played a fair bit of War Thunder a few months ago, but I'm not sure if I'm going to return to it anytime soon. Yes there are PvE scenarios in the form of single player missions, but it's the PvP that's the real meat and potatoes of the game. The moment-by-moment flying and dogfighting is enjoyable enough, but the metagame is borked right now. Matches aren't decided by piloting skill or superior tactics, but by spamming bombers to take out the enemy airfield, which results in an almost instant win. Until Gaijin addresses this issue, I don't see myself becoming a War Thunder regular in the foreseeable future. It's a shame too, as I normally love me some World War II flight games.

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

If I was to hazard a guess, it may be an issue of pride and censorship. There's a prevailing mindset in Russia, particularly amongst older generations, that tends to downplay the horrific losses and heavy-handed tactics of the "Great Patriotic War" (or worse, dismiss it as Western propoganda). Just look at the backlash for games like Company of Heroes 2 when they dared to portray the cruelty and callous disregard for human life that typified Stalin's rule.

More likely, it is just something that the Russian bureaucracy has forgotten about and isn't important enough for it to be a pressing issue that someone in charge actually decide to declassify it. Considering that they've declassified a majority of their cold war tech specs by now as well as the plans for some of their nuclear generators, it likely isn't censorship or pride.

Also, let us never forget that the war many people in the Soviet Union remembers is not a war were they felt they were being thrown meat wall-style at the German army, but rather a war in which they gave everything they had to defend their homes. That being said, Company of Heroes 2 really doesn't do the USSR any favors. It plays into the old trope of Soviet human wave attacks and fails to recognize the fact that the Red Army was probably the top dog in terms of strategic and operational finesse from mid-1944 (see Operation Bagration) until the end of the war. While the USSR undoubtedly sacrificed a lot of people in the early years of the war, it was a strategy that they promptly stopped with as soon as their situation allowed them to actually utilize proper planning and execution.

Keep in mind that the same Deep Operations doctrine that the USSR used from 1943 (Kursk being the first time it was properly employed) onward was the same Deep Operations doctrine that had NATO analysts sweating bullets for most of the cold war. The whole "heavy-handed tactics" thing is very much post-war Western propaganda meant to inspire confidence in NATO's chances of withstanding a Soviet invasion of Europe should the cold war go hot. That the USSR was fine with sacrificing people for faster progress is another matter though.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

I'm playing it regularly (73 hours logged). Yes it has its balance issues, but Gaijin does seem to be working on it. Its a fair game (though if you get shot down by LAGG, don't be mad we all do... that plane's firepower is so fucking OP). Overall though I've enjoyed the hell out of it.

Let me further add the only annoyance is training Experienced Gunners for Bombers and Heavy fighters with more than one turret is Crew XP expensive, possibly designed to have players pay out for the accelerated training. But it doesn't detract from flying either plane types, my AI gunners have shot down many planes despite not being trained.

 

[Neverhoodian]

snip

Oh believe me, I'm not dismissing the bravery and patriotism of millions of ordinary people thrust into a conflict of gargantuan proportions to protect their homes and families. I'm fully aware that by the end of the war the Red Army had undergone an extraordinary transformation to become one of the most effective military organizations in history. I'm just pointing out that the trials and means employed to do so in the early stages are sobering from today's viewpoint, no doubt serving as part of the reason why the "official" Russian take tends to favor rose-tinted glasses (let's not forget that Putin made criticizing the War a criminal offense [http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/05/us-russia-putin-nazi-law-idUSBREA440IV20140505]).

 

[Xan Krieger]

I think it goes like this.
For tanks go for World of Tanks for now
For flying War Thunder beats the absolute hell out of World of Warplanes

I'd suggest getting used to different flying styles, for example if you love dogfighting go for the spitfire, if you're in the hurricane (especially the one with 12 MGs) you're gonna wanna go high to hit bombers. Know yourself, know your enemy, and you'll do fine.

 

[srm79]

WarThunder is fine, but it's baby's first flight sim compared to Il-2 1946. An oldie but it still looks and runs great. Nothing beats the feeling of landing a battered Il-2 with a leaking radiator and cut elevator and aileron controls. I still had my rudder and my throttle, and I had enough intimate time with it that I could have done it a hundred times over too.

I did that in a Heinkel He-111 once. Without the rudder control! Fun times...

 

[TotalerKrieger]

If I was to hazard a guess, it may be an issue of pride and censorship. There's a prevailing mindset in Russia, particularly amongst older generations, that tends to downplay the horrific losses and heavy-handed tactics of the "Great Patriotic War" (or worse, dismiss it as Western propoganda). Just look at the backlash for games like Company of Heroes 2 when they dared to portray the cruelty and callous disregard for human life that typified Stalin's rule.

More likely, it is just something that the Russian bureaucracy has forgotten about and isn't important enough for it to be a pressing issue that someone in charge actually decide to declassify it. Considering that they've declassified a majority of their cold war tech specs by now as well as the plans for some of their nuclear generators, it likely isn't censorship or pride.

Also, let us never forget that the war many people in the Soviet Union remembers is not a war were they felt they were being thrown meat wall-style at the German army, but rather a war in which they gave everything they had to defend their homes. That being said, Company of Heroes 2 really doesn't do the USSR any favors. It plays into the old trope of Soviet human wave attacks and fails to recognize the fact that the Red Army was probably the top dog in terms of strategic and operational finesse from mid-1944 (see Operation Bagration) until the end of the war. While the USSR undoubtedly sacrificed a lot of people in the early years of the war, it was a strategy that they promptly stopped with as soon as their situation allowed them to actually utilize proper planning and execution.

Keep in mind that the same Deep Operations doctrine that the USSR used from 1943 (Kursk being the first time it was properly employed) onward was the same Deep Operations doctrine that had NATO analysts sweating bullets for most of the cold war. The whole "heavy-handed tactics" thing is very much post-war Western propaganda meant to inspire confidence in NATO's chances of withstanding a Soviet invasion of Europe should the cold war go hot. That the USSR was fine with sacrificing people for faster progress is another matter though.

Thank you for your balanced, knowledgeable post.

The Russian people are under few illusions with regards to their experiences during WW2, as a population they lived it firsthand. Like many other nations, WW2 wasn't a distant conflict on another continent, it was in their own backyard and affected millions of combatants and non-combatants alike. Hard to ever rose-tint such immense loss and strife.

War Thunder looks pretty great. I wish the player limit per server was a little larger though. A Hawker Hurricane with Canadian 242 Squadron insignia would be too awesome to resist giving it a try.